Hong Kong’s Deadliest Fire After Year of Safety Complaints

This article examines the tragic Wang Fuk Court fire in Hong Kong through the lens of building design, fire engineering, and construction safety management. Drawing on the incident details and three decades of professional practice, we’ll unpack how a combination of materials, methods, and management failures turned a renovation project into a catastrophic conflagration.

Architects, engineers, building owners, and regulators have important lessons to learn from this event.

Wang Fuk Court Fire: When Renovation Turns into a Firestorm

The Wang Fuk Court disaster is a stark reminder that renovation is not a low-risk phase in a building’s lifecycle. It is often the period when the fire safety strategy is most vulnerable due to temporary works, altered escape routes, and exposed combustible materials.

In this case, residents repeatedly raised fire safety concerns about the ongoing renovation works. Their warnings about scaffolding mesh, blocked windows, and unsafe site behavior now read like a checklist of missed opportunities to prevent a mass-casualty event.

Flame-Retardant Mesh vs. Real-World Fire Performance

Residents had long questioned the flammability of the green mesh wrapped around bamboo scaffolding. Authorities initially reassured them that the fire risk was “relatively low,” citing a Labour Department review that confirmed the mesh met flame-retardant standards.

Compliance on paper is not the same as performance in a complex real-world fire scenario. Flame-retardant certification typically reflects controlled testing conditions, not the combination of fuel load, wind effects, and vertical fire spread along scaffolds and façades.

Bamboo Scaffolding and Vertical Fire Spread

Bamboo scaffolding is a traditional, highly skilled construction method widely used in Hong Kong. Its extensive surface area, combined with mesh and other temporary coverings, can act as a continuous vertical and horizontal pathway for fire spread.

In Wang Fuk Court, the fire raced up and across the scaffolding, engulfing seven of the eight 32-storey towers within four hours. Once fire gains a foothold in such a continuous external system, containment becomes extremely difficult, especially when paired with combustible façade elements.

The Role of Foam Insulation and Façade Design

Authorities suspect that foam insulation significantly fueled the blaze and contributed to both its intensity and speed of spread. This aligns with global lessons from façade fires in high-rise buildings over the past two decades.

Foam insulation, depending on its chemistry and fire rating, can be highly combustible and produce dense, toxic smoke. When combined with inadequate cavity barriers, poor detailing, and temporary coverings, the façade can become an unintended fire propagation system.

Blocked Windows and Compromised Life Safety

Residents reported that windows were partially or completely blocked by foam insulation and renovation works. This had two devastating consequences:

Obstructing windows and external openings during renovation must be treated as a critical risk, especially in tall residential towers with high occupant densities.

Internal Fire Systems: Alarms, Hoses, and Solar Panels

Additional reported issues included malfunctioning fire alarms, aging fire hoses, and concerns that rooftop solar panels might violate fire regulations. Each of these elements erodes a layer of the building’s safety strategy.

In a properly managed high-rise, alarms, hoses, and roof access are integral to early warning, first-response efforts, and firefighter operations. When any of these are compromised—especially during renovation—the result is a reduced safety margin at precisely the time when risk is highest.

Safety Management, Contractor Oversight, and Cultural Failures

The renovation contract, reportedly worth HK$330 million and awarded in January 2024 to Prestige Construction, came with a history of safety inspections, improvement notices, and prosecutions. Despite this regulatory attention, systemic hazards persisted on site.

Following the fire, three individuals linked to the contractor were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. This signals potential failures in safety culture, site supervision, and risk management.

Ignored Complaints and Unsafe Behaviors

Residents had documented and reported workers smoking near scaffolding, a basic but serious violation on a site loaded with temporary materials, mesh, and insulation. Yet these warnings appeared to be ignored.

Fire safety is not just a technical specification issue. Behavioral controls, training, and enforcement are integral components of fire safety design, especially on occupied renovation projects.

Regulatory Response and Lessons for Future Projects

In the wake of the tragedy, Hong Kong authorities have pledged to review the use of bamboo scaffolding and conduct emergency safety checks on buildings undergoing renovation. This is a necessary step, but real resilience will require more than inspections.

Key Takeaways for Designers, Owners, and Regulators

The Wang Fuk Court fire shows that high-rise safety depends on many factors. Materials, systems, temporary works, human behavior, and oversight all play a role.

 
Here is the source article for this story: Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in decades followed a year of safety complaints